776 TAS AIRCRAFT

62-1840 – October 2, 1966: C-130E , c/n 3803, of the 776th Troop Carrier Squadron, shot down 30 kilometers south of Cam Ranh Bay, South Vietnam.

62-1841 – Lost on takeoff ,Apr 20 1974 Andersen AFB, Guam. The aircraft was being ferried from Clark AB, PI to Robins AFB GA for PDM. Next stop was Midway island. A normal takeoff was said to have been made, and the aircraft started to climb out. But then it sunk back down and hit the runway. After hitting the runway the aircraft exploded and ran off the end of the runway and the wreckage ended up on the side of the cliff. The runway at Andersen was 06R. The Andersen runways have a pronounced concave contour with the approach end and departure end elevations being higher than the midpoint of the runway length. In other words: downhill the first part of takeoff ground run, and uphill the later part; you would have to climb a bit just to clear the end of the runway. It was reported that the C-130 touched down off the right side of the runway and before the end of the runway, and the debris field extended to the cliff and over the side down towards the reef at water’s edge.

Crew : Major Francis E King, Major Robert M Monarch, 1 LT Nelson T Hicks, TSGT Joe L Smith, SSGT Larry F Maas, SGT Amos W Newsom (Crew Chief)

63-7878 – September 6, 1966: C-130E  c/n 3949, of the 776th Troop Carrier Squadron314th Troop Carrier Wing, out of Ching Chuan Kang crashed into a mountain in Taiwan due to a navigation error during logistics flight from Southeast Asia. Five crew and three passengers killed.

64-0536 – October 2, 1970: C-130E , c/n 4025, of the 776th Tactical Airlift Squadron, crashed into Cha Tien Shan mountain after take-off from Taipei, Taiwan.

62-1853 – August 12, 1972: C-130E , c/n 3817, of the 776th Tactical Airlift Squadron, shot down during take-off from Sóc Trăng, South Vietnam.

63-7798 – May 17, 1972: C-130E, c/n 3864, of the 776th Tactical Airlift Squadron, hit by rocket (?) taking off from Kon Tum, South Vietnam.

April 20, 1974: USAF C-130E, 62-1841, c/n 3804, of the 776th Tactical Airlift Squadron, 374th Tactical Airlift Wing, crashed on take-off from Andersen Air Force BaseGuam, and sank in the Pacific Ocean.

72-1297 – April 28, 1975: C-130E , c/n 4519, of the 314th Tactical Airlift Wing, destroyed by 122 mm rocket, Tan Son Nhut Air Base, South Vietnam. After off-loading a BLU-82, it was hit while taxiing to pick up evacuees. This was the last U.S. military Hercules hull loss associated with the war in Southeast Asia. It was these attacks by the advancing NVA that forced the closing of Tan Son Nhut to fixed-wing evacuation, thus necessitating the now-famous helicopter evacuations from downtown Saigon by the United States Marine Corps and the Air America arm of the CIA. See Operation Frequent Wind.

SQUADRON UE

62-1788 (MSN 382-3735) retired to AMARC Nov 29, 2010 from Little Rock AFB.  The aircraft's assignments include the 1608th Air Transport Wing at Charleston Air Force Base, S.C., from 1964 to 1965; the 516th Troop Carrier Wing at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, from 1966 to 1967; the 314th and
374th Tactical Airlift Wings at Ching Chuan Kang Air Base, Taiwan, from 1967 to 1968 and 1969 to 1973, respectively; the West Air Virginia National Guard's 130 Tactical Airlift Squadron from 1974 to 1985; and finally the Arkansas Air National Guard's 154th Training Squadron and then with 314th Airlift Wing at Little Rock AFB from 1986 to 2010. 
To AMARC Nov 29, 2010

63-7780 – January 27, 1969: C-130E , c/n 3846, of the 776th Tactical Airlift Squadron, destroyed in night mortar attack at Tonie Cham, South Vietnam. Aircraft had been assigned as Thunderbirds demonstration team support craft, October 1966.

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62-1841 April 20, 1974: USAF C-130E, , c/n 3804, of the 776th Tactical Airlift Squadron, 374th Tactical Airlift Wing, crashed on take-off from Andersen Air Force BaseGuam, and sank in the Pacific Ocean.

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72-1787
 C-130E SPARE 617 arrives at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force after its final flight on Aug. 18, 2011. (USAF Photo)
C-130E SPARE 617 arrives at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force after its final flight on Aug. 18, 2011 (USAF Photo)
72-1787 (MSN 382-3732) "Spare 617") 
2/13/63: TOS and assigned to 1608th Air Transport (Heavy) Wing 
(Military Air Transport Service), Charleston AFB, SC. 
1/66: 437th Military Airlift Wing (MAS) at Charleston AFB, SC. 
7/66: 316th Tactical Airlift Wing, (Tactical Air Command), Langley AFB, VA. 
2/68: 314th Tactical Airlift Wing (Pacific Air Forces), Ching Chuan Kang, AB, Taiwan. 
While with that unit, the plane saw deployments to Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam; Naha AB,Japan; Tuy Hoa AB, Vietnam; Don Muang AB, Thailand; Tan Son Nhut AB, Vietnam; U Tapao RTAFB, Thailand. 9/71: 776th Tactical Airlft Squadron, 374th Tactical Airlift Wing, Ching Chang Kuan AB, Taiwan.  While with this unit it saw deployments to Cam Ranh Bay AB, Vietnam; U Tapao RTAFB, Thailand; 
Takhli RTAFB; Nakhon Phanom RTAFB,Thailand. It performed courageous work during the Southeast Asia War. Two members of its crew - Capt. William Caldwell, pilot, and Tech. Sgt. Charlie Shaub, loadmaster - were awarded Air Force Crosses, the U.S. Air Force's second highest award for valor, for their heroic actions during the siege of An Loc in 1972.  The award to two of the crew has overshadowedthe fact that the engineer, Tech Sgt Jon Sanders was killed by enemy action during the sortie, and others were injured.
5/74: 374th TAW then moved to Clark AFB, Philippines. While there, the plane saw deployments to U Tapao RTAFB, Thailand and Kadena AB, Okinawa. 
10/75: 130th Tactical Airlift Group (ANG), Kanawha County Airport, Charleston, WV. 
7/86: 154th Training Squadron, 189th Tactical Airlift Group, 314th Tactical Airlift Wing (ANG), Little Rock AFB, AR. 
10/10: 19th Airlift Wing, also at Little Rock AFB.  While assigned to the Arkansas Air National Guard at Little Rock at the time it was identified for the museum. Flown to USAF Museum, Dayton, Ohio Aug 18, 2011.  Now on display at USAF National
Museum in Dayton, Ohio where it is now housed in the Global Reach Gal
 C-130E SPARE 617 made its final flight to the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force on Aug. 18, 2011. Here, Col. Michael A. Minihan, commander of the 19th Airlift Wing, shakes hands with Col. (Ret.) William Caldwell, who received the Air Force Cross while piloting the aircraft during the Southeast Asia War. (U.S. Air Force photo by Jeff Fisher)

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